Cédric Bakambu (born 11 April 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward or a winger for La Liga club Real Betis and the DR Congo national team. Bakambu made his professional debut for Sochaux in 2010, and played 107 official games for them over five seasons, scoring 21 goals. He then moved to Bursaspor for €1.8 million, finishing as top scorer as his team came runners-up in the Turkish Cup, before signing for Villarreal a year later. Born in France, Bakambu represented them internationally at youth level up to the under-20s, scoring eight goals in 38 games and winning the 2010 UEFA European Championship for the under-19s. In 2015, Bakambu made his senior debut for the DR Congo national team.

Club career

Sochaux

Born in Vitry-sur-Seine, Val-de-Marne, Bakambu began his career at local Ivry at the age of 10 before transferring to Sochaux four years later. On 1 May 2010, Bakambu played in the 2010 Coupe Gambardella Final and scored a goal for his team at the Stade de France. Sochaux, however, lost the match 4–3 on penalties. He had previously scored a double in the team's 4–3 aggregate semi-final victory over

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

. Bakambu made his professional debut on 7 August 2010 in Sochaux's opening match of the Ligue 1 season against Arles-Avignon, appearing as an 83rd-minute substitute for Modibo Maïga in a 2–1 win at the Stade Auguste Bonal. The following month, he signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal with the club until June 2013. On 17 September 2011, Bakambu scored his first professional goal, the first equaliser in a 2–2 draw at Lille OSC, eleven minutes after replacing Carlāo. A year and nine days later, as a 66th-minute replacement for King Osanga, he scored twice in a 3–2 extra-time home win over Evian in the third round of the Coupe de la Ligue. Bakambu scored seven goals in 31 appearances over the 2013–14 Ligue 1 season, in which Sochaux were relegated; this included two on 21 December in a 2–1 home win over

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

. Across the campaign, he was placed on the right wing by manager Hervé Renard until he would become sufficiently mentally mature for a centre-forward role. On 23 March, he was sent off for handball in a 2–1 loss at Saint-Étienne.

Bursaspor

On 1 September 2014, Bakambu left France for the first time, moving on a four-year transfer to Turkey's Bursaspor for a fee of €1.8 million and an annual salary of €800,000. He made his debut in the Süper Lig twelve days later, replacing Ozan İpek in the 55th minute of a 2–1 win at Gençlerbirliği. His first goals for the "Green Crocodiles" came on 19 October, in either half of a 2–2 draw against Eskişehirspor at the Bursa Atatürk Stadium, and six days later he scored a first professional hat-trick in a 5–0 win at Balıkesirspor. He finished his only league season in Bursa with 13 goals in 27 games. In that season's domestic cup, Bakambu was the top scorer with eight goals in 12 games as his team reached the final before a 3–2 home loss to Galatasaray. This tally included trebles in a 5–0 win at Mersin İdmanyurdu on 27 January and a 3–0 victory over Fatih Karagümrük nine days later, both in the group stage. As Galatasaray won the double, Bursaspor faced them in the 2015 Turkish Super Cup on 8 August, with Bakambu playing the whole of the 1–0 loss.

Villarreal

On 19 August 2015, Spanish side Villarreal announced the signing of Bakambu on a five-year contract. He made his La Liga debut four days later, replacing Léo Baptistão in the 61st minute of a 1–1 draw at Real Betis in the first game of the season; on the 28th he came on for the same player and scored two goals in the closing minutes of the fixture against Espanyol at Estadio El Madrigal, to secure a 3–1 victory for the "Yellow Submarine". Bakambu played his first game in European competition on 17 September, again as a substitute in a 2–1 loss at Rapid Wien in the group stage of that season's

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. On 22 October, he scored his first goals in the tournament, a first-half double in a 4–0 home win over Dinamo Minsk; he added another two the following 10 March against Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of the last 16 (2–0 win, same aggregate). In the quarter-finals, he scored twice in each leg of a 6–3 aggregate win over Sparta Prague. He was one of four strikers named in the competition's Squad of the Season, and his nine goals put him only one behind the top scorer, Athletic Bilbao's Aritz Aduriz. On 1 October 2017, Bakambu scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 home win over Eibar. He then scored two goals in a 2–1 win at Girona and another in a 4–0 win over Las Palmas to be named La Liga Player of the Month, the first African to win the award. In early January 2018, Villarreal manager Javier Calleja revealed that Bakambu was going through a transfer to Beijing Sinobo GuoanIn March 2021, Beijing Sinobo Guoan changed its name to Beijing Guoan. of the Chinese Super League. On 17 January 2018, Bakambu rescinded his contract with Villarreal. Two weeks later, however, Beijing Guoan still had not announced the signing of Bakambu, who had already played and scored for the club. It was reported that Beijing Guoan were trying to avoid paying a 100 percent tax placed on incoming transfers worth over 45 million yuan (US$7 million) by the

Chinese Football Association The Chinese Football Association (), abbreviated as CFA (), is the governing body for association football, beach soccer and futsal in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China). The CFA organizes the men's and women's national teams an ...

. The transfer went through in time for the start of the Chinese season with the full fees being paid.

Beijing Guoan

On 28 February 2018, the final day of the Chinese transfer window, Bakambu's protracted transfer from Villarreal to Beijing Sinobo Guoan was finally confirmed with the club paid his €40 million release clause, but Beijing did not announce the Congolese forward's signing amid confusion over whether they had to pay a 100 per cent levy on the transfer. He scored his first goal in China in his second game, in a 2–1 win over Jiangsu Suning. He won the Chinese FA Cup in his first season.

Marseille

On 13 January 2022, Bakambu signed for French club

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

on a contract until 30 June 2024. He scored in his first appearance for the club, after coming on as a substitute in a 2-0 win over Lens.

Olympiacos

On 16 September 2022, Bakambu signed for Greek club Olympiacos on a contract until 30 June 2025.

Al-Nasr

On 29 June 2023, UAE Pro League club Al-Nasr announced that Bakambu had signed a two-year contract with the club.

Galatasaray

On 22 July 2023, it was announced by Turkish club Galatasaray that negotiations with its club Al-Nasr for an agreement were started. A day later, Bakambu transferred to Süper Lig club Galatasaray on a permanent basis. He signed a two-year contract for a €700,000 fee. On 2 August, he made his debut in a Champions League qualifying match against Žalgiris Vilnius. On 8 November, he scored his first Champions League goal in the 93rd minute of stoppage time in a 2–1 away defeat against Bayern Munich.

Betis

On 1 February 2024, Bakambu signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Real Betis.

International career

Bakambu was a French youth international and has represented the country at both under-18 and under-19 level. He was a part of the team that won the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship on home soil. On 18 July, he scored twice in a 4–1 opening win over the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in Caen, and the 2–1 winner against Croatia in the semi-finals nine days later, also at the Stade Michel d'Ornano. He was also part of the team that came fourth at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia, opening a 2–0 win over

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

in the last group game in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

. In March 2015, he opted to represent

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

at senior level. On arrival in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

he was greeted by fans with banners of him, later reflecting "I hadn't even played a match yet they made banners for me. It's really something else. It was through football that I discovered my country." He was first called up in June ahead of a friendly against Cameroon on the 9th, and started that match, a 1–1 draw at the Stade Charles Tondreau in Mons, Belgium. On 26 March the following year, Bakambu scored his first international goal, opening a 2–1 win over

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

at the Stade des Martyrs with a penalty, in

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. He added two more on 5 June, in a 6–1 win away to

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. He was chosen in Florent Ibengé's squad for the final tournament in Gabon, and started in the opening group match, a 1–0 win over

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

at the Stade d'Oyem. He then did not play again until a seven-minute run in the quarter-finals where the Congolese lost 2–1 to

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

. On 24 March 2019, Bakambu returned to action for

after missing previous qualifiers vs. rivals Congo to injury. He started and scored the winner in a 1–0 victory against

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

. This secured The Leopards' qualification to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, at the expense of their opponents. On 1 April 2022, following DR Congo's elimination from

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification was the FIFA World Cup qualification, qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar national football team, Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Par ...

at the hands of

, Bakambu announced his retirement from the national team, a decision he later reversed. On 17 January 2024, Bakambu assisted Brentford forward, Yoane Wissa for the equaliser in DR. Congo's 1-1 draw with Zambia in the opening round of group games at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Personal life

Born in France to parents from the DR Congo, Bakambu said "I grew up with both cultures and I am very proud of that. I think it's something that enriches you." Bakambu and international teammate Dieumerci Mbokani were at Brussels Airport when it was struck by terror attacks in March 2016; both escaped unharmed.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list DR Congo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bakambu goal.''

Honours

Bursaspor * Turkish Cup runner-up: 2014–15 Beijing Guoan * Chinese FA Cup: 2018 Real Betis *

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

runner-up: 2024/25 France U19 * UEFA European Under-19 Championship: 2010 Individual * UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2010 * Turkish Cup Top scorer: 2014–15 * Facebook FA La Liga Best Breakthrough: 2016 * Villarreal Rookie of the Year: 2015–16 *

Squad of the Season: 2015–16 * La Liga Player of the Month: October 2017 * Chinese Super League Top scorer: 2020 *

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

Player of the Month: January 2023 * Super League Greece Top scorer: 2022–23 * Super League Greece Team of the Season: 2022–23 Records * Beijing Guoan All-Time Top scorer

References

External links